Influence of implant diameter in the displacement of dental implants in trabecular bovine bone under a static lateral load: experimental results and computational modeling.

PURPOSE: Primary stability and micromovement of dental implants depend on structural properties of the surrounding bone and on implant dimension and design. The purpose of this study was to provide objective data for the influence of implant diameter on the displacement of titanium screw implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety Semados implants (length 15 mm, diameter 3.25, 3.75, and 4.5 mm; Bego, Bremen, Germany) were inserted in trabecular bone specimens. All implants were inserted with a torque up to 30 N.cm and loaded horizontally with 10, 20, and 30 N for 2 seconds. RESULTS: All implants showed primary stability. With increasing force, a gradual increase of micromovement was observed (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.000). No significant differences were found (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = 0.148) comparing different diameters for every force. CONCLUSIONS: Variation of the diameter of standard implants between 3.25 and 4.5 mm does not seem to influence the primary stability in trabecular bone specimen. Differences between experimental and computational results may be due to the simplification used when modeling.